CRICKET
Thunder players collide
Two Sydney Thunder players in Australia’s T20 Big Bash League required overnight hospital treatment on Friday after colliding while fielding in a match against the Perth Scorchers. Team officials said that Cameron Bancroft’s season was over after the Thunder opener sustained a broken right shoulder blade and broken nose in a collision with teammate Daniel Sams. Sams appeared to be knocked out by the collision. The match was delayed while both players were taken off the field. Sams would be sidelined for at least 12 days after he and Bancroft were diagnosed with concussions, the team said. The Thunder won the match by four wickets.
Photo: AP
SOCCER
Nice defeat Rennes
Nice on Friday beat Stade Rennais 3-2 to move into fourth in Ligue 1. Both sides produced chance after chance in an entertaining match. The result preserved Nice’s unbeaten home record and lifted them to 27 points, equal with OSC Lille and two points ahead of Olympique Lyonnais ahead of the rest of the weekend’s games. Rennes remained 12th.
Photo: AFP
SOCCER
Bellingham snatches win
Jude Bellingham on Friday snatched 10-man Real Madrid a 2-1 victory against Valencia to take them top of La Liga after winger Vinicius Junior was sent off. Huro Duro scored for Valencia and Luka Modric equalized. Vinicius was dismissed for shoving Los Che goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski in the back of the neck with little over 10 minutes remaining before Bellingham pounced in stoppage-time.
Photo: Reuters
SOCCER
Milan reach final
AC Milan reached Monday’s Supercoppa Italiana final after coming from behind on Friday to beat Juventus 2-1 in Sergio Conceicao’s first game in charge. The win set up a derby decider with Inter, who beat Atalanta BC 2-0 in their semi-final on Thursday. Conceicao could immediately get his hands on a trophy after replacing the sacked Paulo Fonseca as Milan manager on Monday.
Photo: AFP
SOCCER
Pontevedra slay giant
Pontevedra on Friday slayed another giant in the Copa del Rey. The fourth-tier side dispatched high-flying La Liga side RCD Mallorca 3-0 to move into the last 16. Dalisson de Almeida scored from almost 40m, Yelko Pino doubled the lead with a cracking volley and Rufo rounded off the perfect night after a shocking defensive lapse. The Galician side knocked out Villarreal in the previous round. In the night’s other games, Rayo Vallecano and Getafe progressed. Getafe needed extra time to beat second-division Granada 1-0. Borja Mayoral got the only goal in the 93rd minute to put the visitors through. Rayo Vallecano made swift work of second-tier Racing Ferrol, winning 3-1. Alfonso Espino and Jorge de Frutos put the visitors 2-0 up before halftime and Frutos grabbed a third on the hour mark. Alvaro Gimenez scored a late consolation for the home side.
BUMRAH WATCH: Captain Jasprit Bumrah left the SCG for scans for back spasms and although he returned to the ground, there was no word on if he would play Rishabh Pant’s blistering counterattack yesterday capped a chaotic second day of the fifth and final Test between Australia and India, with 15 wickets falling and the star bowler of the series leaving the Sydney Cricket Ground with an ambulance escort. Yet the Border-Gavaskar trophy still remains very much in the balance as India reached 141-6, holding a 145-run lead over Australia with three days remaining. “Low-scoring games like this, it just heightens the pressure within it, so long way still to go,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said. “There’s gonna be plenty of cricket, so we’ll see what happens.” Australia were bowled out for
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek yesterday beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets to take Poland into the final of the mixed-teams United Cup with victory over Kazakhstan. Last year’s runners-up face the US today for the title in Sydney after they beat the Czech Republic in the other semi-final. “This win makes me really proud,” Swiatek said after seeing off Rybakina 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to give Poland an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie. It was a statement of intent from the world number two with the first major of the year to start on Jan. 12. “It is perfect preparation for the
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Jiang Xinyu of China yesterday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, while Naomi Osaka retired from the women’s singles final with an abdominal injury. Second seeds Wu and Jiang defeated Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US 6-3, 6-4 on ASB Tennis Centre’s Stadium Court in 1 hour, 5 minutes. The WTA 250 victory was 25-year-old Wu’s second WTA Tour title, after winning the 2023 Hua Hin Championships in Thailand with Taiwanese partner Chan Hao-ching. Later that year, Wu and Taiwan’s Hsu Yu-hsiou won the mixed doubles gold at the World
SHORT-HANDED: Reigning champions the Boston Celtics were without stars Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis, but they still downed the Timberwolves Oklahoma City on Thursday stretched the NBA’s best winning streak to 13 games with a home victory, while reigning champions the Boston Celtics held on for a last-shot triumph at Minnesota. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had game highs of 29 points and eight assists to spark the Thunder over the Los Angeles Clippers 116-98, improving the Western Conference leaders to 28-5. The Thunder’s winning streak is the longest since the team relocated from Seattle after the 2007-2008 season. “It’s just being present, going day by day, working on ourselves, and I think we’re doing a good job on that,” said Isaiah Hartenstein, who added 11
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